There is a Little Sort-of-Man Living in Our Heads

Percy POV

I slowly rose to consciousness, seemingly knowing that I was waking up while still asleep. The sea rushed in my ears and Annabeth's body was pressed flush to my side, warming me on the cold night. My eyes opened gradually the stars visible on the dark horizon through my non-existent walls. The moon shone brightly.

But something was amiss.

Not wanting to move, I forced myself awake, scanning the room with my eyes, looking for something out of place. The Minotaur's horn hung crooked on the pillar gathering dust and the trident leant against the east wall. The telescope was pointed out to sea and the book on the chest was lain open. But something was wrong. The ropes stretched between the wooden pillars were tied with the same knot and the boat's mast flag was tied up. I could even see my crumpled clothes from yesterday on the back of the armchair in the corner.

My head fell back against my pillow as my eyes drifted shut as Morpheus dragged me down again, the noise of the cracking fire filling the air with sharpened sounds, unlike the muffled waves. I was almost asleep before I realised my mistake.

I didn't have a fireplace.

My eyes snapped open with a jerk, and I sat up sharply causing Annabeth to roll over.

My roof was alight.

How did I miss that?

I practically flew out of bed and scooped Annabeth up, not caring about her state of undress. Shooting out of the cabin I ran to the middle of the cabins, and turned around. The ground trembled, and the burning cabin grew smaller as the fire roared to life where we had been moments ago.

I felt the ground move, but not in an earthquake way. It was more of a 'I'm standing on a rock that someone just moved' feeling. I spun on my heel just in time to see the ground crack open.

A fear worse than death creeped in causing my stomach to churn, me to stumble back, my heart to stop and my knees crumple. I clutched Annabeth to my chest, her grumbling slightly as she stirred. "No..." the whisper barely escaped my lips as my throat hitched and the familiar fear and sense of hopelessness entered me again. I buried my head in Annabeth's hair and turned her head to the crook of my neck as I sobbed.

I give up, I can't do this anymore, I won't, just take us, be done with this, I give up, I can't…

For once in my life, I genuinely didn't care about the other cabins- a feat I'm not proud of. I didn't care if they crumbled to dust, as long as it was quick. The mere presence of the primordial was enough to terrify, and the anger was sure enough to kill on sight.

I felt Annabeth tremble and tighten up as she woke and somehow comprehended what was happening. She didn't question anything, she simply clutched my hair and joined my sobbing, accepting it. We practically felt the swoop through the air as Tartarus's sword cut fresh.

"I love y-"

And everything exploded.

I screamed and screamed through the pain, clutching my everything to my chest while she did the same, as shrieks of anguish tore through our lips and into the night. I rocked as my pain dulled, gasps wracking our bodies.

The ground rumbled again and I panicked, I couldn't take this anymore. I started to hyperventilate along with Annabeth as we sat interlocked. We couldn't do this again, this is it.

This is it.

Now, I'm not one to beg, I'm not one to plead, but.

Oh, gods, please let this be it.

And then a sound seemed to pierce the deafening roar of what I now realised was silence. Murmurs of voices became clearer. The hard ground became softer, the heat cooler. But I didn't waver my grip and neither did Annabeth.

A particularly piercing voice cut through my panic.

"Calm down."

I felt my hyperventilating soothe slightly, but not completely fade as fear still gripped my heart.

"Calm down."

It worked further still, but I wasn't at ease. We were far from it.

"CALM DOWN."

My rocking stopped and we froze, our breathing unsteady and shallow but, I knew we weren't there. Not that we were necessarily safe, but not there.

I felt the sheets under my legs, the cool wind push at my back, the thirty plus people watching outside with sorrow in their eyes. I pushed my head further down, into Annabeth's collarbone, and squinted my eyes shut. Annabeth wrapped her arms tight around my neck and I felt her face pressed into my shoulder. The sobs started up again.

We were never going to be fine, never going to forget, never going to be free of there. We're never going to stop being plagued by it. Ever.

Its like when someone calls you 'ugly'. The say it to you every day, and its not even noticeable. But then you feel it. And then it hurts. And then it burns. And then it makes you scream yourself hoarse.

.o.O.0.O.o.

I woke again to the sun warming my face and curled around a small ball. I felt Annabeth stir awake, and we both sat up, exhausted. But I was surprised.

Littered around our room were campers. They were coating the floor both inside and out, some on the beach, the couch, the ground around the cabin. Everywhere.

They all began to wake when I realised that the entire Aphrodite cabin were splayed out around our bed. I turned my head as I sensed a bigger movement, and saw Piper propped up against the dresser and looking at us tiredly. A small sound escaped Annabeth and Piper understood.

"We heard you two last night. It was worse- the whole camp heard." Piper's voice was low and quiet as the rustle of everyone else continued to wake from their slumber.

We were silent as we gripped each other's hands.

"It took the entire cabin three times to charmspeak you two out of it. You're getting stronger, and the nightmares worse."

I looked down briefly, hating the fact that we woke everyone up again. It wasn't fair on them.

I turned again to Piper, and opened my arms. She smiled softly, sympathy in her eyes as she slumped into our open arms and we hugged her. I heard Annabeth whisper a quiet "Thank you." in her ear, and Piper murmured slightly in assent.

Campers started filing out and we got dressed. We profusely - see I can use big words - apologised and thanked the Aphrodite cabin for their efforts and proceeded to exit the cabin. We walked hand in hand to the pavilion where the majority of camp had sat down at in their pyjamas.

The smell of food immediately brightened my day and I tugged Annabeth forward.

"Seriously, Seaweed Brain. You know your addiction to food makes you easily susceptible to manipulation, right?"

A grin graced her face as her eyes twinkled mischievously and I smirked at her. "It's the reason I grew up big and strong, Wise Girl." I nodded to myself. I waggled my eyebrows at her "If you catch my drift."

She shoved me half-heartedly and I stumbled into the decking but made straight for the food table, not missing a beat. Annabeth appeared behind me, asking "And the blue?"

"Just an added bonus." I replied. I turned back to her, holding a plate piled high with blue pancakes, positively drowning in syrup, and she smiled disbelievingly as she loaded up her own plate. We walked over to the Poseidon table and sat down opposite each other. I hungrily dug into my meal, practically devouring it with my eyes, while Annabeth thoughtfully scanned the pavilion.

"Do you think Will and Nico are gonna officially come out? Like as a couple?" she asked me, turning back to her food.

"-'Mmm no' shure 'nnufef." I replied seriously, my mouth full of heaven. I swallowed and continued. "I think Will is more confident, but Nico still needs to settle in first. But I think so, yeah. Not too soon though."

She hummed in agreement. We ate in comfortable silence, listening to the adjacent tables and catching bits of conversation. I had almost cleared my plate when-

"Oh my gods."

"I'm an idiot."

"What? No, you're not."

"Piper offered to help with our dreams..." she trailed off. It was an unspoken agreement between the two of us to talk of little as we could about our nightly horrors. However, she steeled herself and ploughed on as I stared intently at her with a mouth full of food.

"We didn't even ask the Hypnos cabin. Or the Morpheus cabin for that matter! They would have been much more affective."

I contemplated this and downed the last of my food while looking at the two cabin tables respectively. My forehead creased. "Annie, the Hypnos cabin, maybe, only maybe, but Morpheus? There's three kids there and two of them look eleven and the other eight. I'm not asking them to take away our dreams because they're gonna have to go somewhere, right? I don't want them to run the risk of seeing that, it would damage them too much."

I turned back to her to find her looking at me with a soft smile on her face.

"What?" I asked quizzically.

"Never change, okay?"

"Never again, Wise Girl."

"Never again, Seaweed Brain."

'Never again' was our 'Forever and always'. Our 'okay'.

We stacked up our plates and headed off the decking. Annabeth slipped her hand into mine.

Annabeth's POV

We walked hand in hand, strolling slowly through the freshly built camp. As official architect of Olympus, my duties where extended to camp, allowing me to do as I wished.

All the cabin members had free reign for what their cabin looked like, as long as they were built within the usual U shape. There was also a second U shape behind it for all the new cabins. The arena was bigger and more durable, with sections designed to withstand each cabin's respective power or talent. The dummies were unlimited, and the Hephaestus cabin had helped create a simulation of monsters (inspired by 'crazy mode' as Leo and Jason had said). An archery range sat next to climbing wall now had a sister, with harder levels that were constantly changing, giving the older campers more of a challenge.

We walked past the Hecate and Hephaestus cabins to the second U where the Hypnos cabin sat. We walked through the door, because no one would answer anyways, and observed.

The residents were all asleep. As per usual.

Now I know I said that all the campers had free reign over their cabins, but I had a few requests. Or orders would probably be more appropriate.

One such request was that the Hypnos and Morpheus cabins have a bell. This was an enchanted bell that once rung would render the hearers awake for however long the ringer wanted, blessed by Hypnos and Morpheus themselves.

It was a godsend.

I rung the bell and the effect was instantaneous. The sleepers shot up with such gusto they were shaking, their eyes unbelievably wide.

Percy snickered next to me.

"Whose that?"

"Annabeth and Percy, Clovis."

Their eyes widened even more so. One of the younger cabin mates rolled out of her bed and groaned, he hair splayed madly.

"What brings you two here?" he said, rubbing his eyes. I glanced the girl once before turning back to Clovis.

"Uh, well, we were, uh, wondering..."

"Could you do something about our dreams?" Percy finished for me, his face strained slightly. I looked at him properly, seeing the gauntness of his face, the paleness beneath his tanned skin. I suspected I looked the same.

It's like we never left.

My head swung back to the cabin mates again and I saw two of the younger kids staring at us intently. I think the girls name was Marzena, but she preferred Mazzi. She was the best knife fighter in the whole Cabin.

"Clovis interrupted my ADHD before it took hold, seeing it overtake my face, and said "Well that depends. It could either be pure PTSD or a remainder of... there. No-ones ever been there so we have no idea what would happen to those who get out."

"That... actually makes sense."

"Really?"

I turned to Percy, seeing his confused expression. "Yeah." He looked at me.

"The place is ruled by a primordial and is the front doorstep of another. No-one was supposed to leave, even if they got in. Maybe the dreams are what's left of there, in us. The only way they could 'trap' someone without them being there. Does that make sense? It's kinda hard to word."

He nodded, his face masked, "Is there a way to remove it?"

Clovis scratched his head and looked at his older sister. She shrugged.

"Well, we would have to go inside your head to see."

I stared at him.

"We would have to put you to sleep and then drag you to here in order to see what it was. Even then we won't know how to fix it though."

I shared a look with Percy. He nodded and I turned back to Clovis.

"Well, diagnosis is the first step to recovery, right?"

.o.O.0.O.o.

I slashed at Percy's side as he spun, bringing his sword round in turn and aiming for my upper half as he briefly left the ground. I swiped my knife up in an arc, just cutting his shirt sleeve as he flew over my head. This left me open to attacks, and he gave me a cut in my left forearm, before twisting his arm and aiming for my right thigh. I deflected the strike, and tried to topple him by hooking my leg round his as he landed. He fell, but grabbed onto me, and dragged me down with him, twisting. I hit the ground hard as we rolled, hugging to him.

We stopped as he loomed over me, a hard expression on his face, my wrists held down fast above my head by his own, and kissed me on the nose. A laugh bubbled out of my lips and he grinned goofily at me. But my mirth faded as seriousness overcame me again.

"I wish we knew how to get rid of it."

His smile slipped as the words left my mouth. He paused, not saying anything, and I couldn't read his face.

"Well, I imagine getting rid of a mini Tartarus that won't leave and lives in our heads isn't going to be easy."

Why does having to be a demigod have to be so hard?

An arrow whizzed overhead causing our heads to snap up.

"Hey, lovebirds!"

Will's voice came floating over from the Apollo section, where the whole cabin was watching using the few targets and sitting on a ground made out of sponge.

I blushed furiously and tried to extricate myself from the 'Percy cage', but he stood fast and didn't move. Instead he turned his head and yelled back.

"Hey, Sunshine!"

Will deepened in colour and it was our turn to laugh.

"Too much PDA! There are kids here you know!" yelled Kayla, Will's younger sister.

"I don't care!"

Percy turned back to me and kissed me deeply. I squirmed at first, but then melted into it. My playful side came out and I rolled us over and cupped his face, straddling him and deepening the kiss. His hands gripped my waist as he leaned upwards. I broke off the kiss reluctantly after a minute or two, and grinned back at the cabin members. They were all acting up, clutching their hearts, pretend retching and clawing out their eyes.

I rolled my own and almost turned back to Percy, when they all dropped. It would have been comical and I would have passed it off as a joke if they hadn't done it with such synchronicity and lack of dramatics.

"What the-", said Percy, from underneath me.

I clambered I gracefully off him and ran to them, struggling with the bouncy ground. I fell to my knees at Will's side, the closest person. I shook him, and he waved around like a rag doll, his blonde hair flying in the wind as Percy came to a halt at my side. I laid him back down carefully and opened his eyes softly with my thumb as I felt Percy peer round at the others. I gasped.

They were solid green.

"Percy-"

"I'm on it."

He put his fingers in his mouth and let out an ear-piercing screech of a whistle. I clamped my hands over my ears as other campers turned and looked around, jumping off obstacles and pouring out of cabins.

"Someone get Chiron!"

Some of the campers ran off while the majority of the campers stared.

"How did you do that?"

He looked at me sheepishly. "I got Will to teach me after Manhattan."

I nodded, and then remembered my discovery. "Percy, their eyes!" I hissed.

"What?"

"They're green."

"What?"

I wracked my brain, thinking of a solution. Green, Greek fire, Demeter's favourite colour, Rachel's prophec-

"SOMEONE GET RACHEL! NOW!"

Percy yelled over the commotion, practically reading my mind, and half of the crowd left to get her. I stared at him.

"Well, she's got the green smoke thing doesn't she? When she's all prophetic and stuff."

I nodded vaguely when Chiron cantered up.

"My, what's happened here?"

"They just dropped. And their eyes are all solid green." I added as an afterthought.

"Ahh, yes. This has happened before."

"What? When?"

"Calm down, dear Annabeth. It wasn't kept in the history. This happened sometime in the 18th century actually..."

Rachel somehow managed to skid over to us on the sponge, but not before she dropped as well. She lay in the middle of the unconscious campers, unmoving as we all stared at them. Green smoke began to envelop her and I felt strong arms envelop me, picking me up and walking me backwards.

The smoke snaked it's way round the Apollo cabin members, masking them partly from view.

Then the creepiest thing happened.

They all sat up, save for Rachel, almost like our previous oracle, and opened their green eyes. Murmurs ran through the campers before they started to speak.

"Albion receives demigods from legends of now,

To aid the family descendants, proud,

The fight of Fire will overcome the power,

And the crystal soul shall crack,

Malice of death with evil of the uncontrollable,

Shall be banished by love so true,

Yet be the end of that which remains,

But only with the curse invincible obtained,

Will the two minds withstand the strain,

And peace will once again reign."

They all slumped to the ground, passing out. I slipped out of Percy's arms and we both surged forward. I lifted Will's eyes again and let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. They were blue.

Things just got a hella lot interesting.

AN: Hey readers! I want to thank you for choosing to read my story, I'm trying to do it differently, but it will follow the same line as some other stories because rn it's all I can think of. I will add some twists though, don't you worry! Please message me on what to name this story because I don't like the title I've given it, and I think you should have a choice.